Silent Still
by Onyzz
Summary: Being alone for most of his life and being hurt by people in the past, Vaughn had always found comfort in animals over people. Being older, he realizes that there are still some kind people and feels guilt over what he had avoided. Will he be able to open himself up despite his antisocial tendencies, or will memories from the past continue to haunt him?


Chapter 1

Silence. All I remember was silence. It felt so peaceful.

* * *

Vaughn stared up at the cloudy dark grey sky, the cold snowflakes landing gingerly on his face and white scarf. He took a step forward towards the front step of his house, the snow compacting under his brown cowboy boots making a satisfying crunch ring through the air. He sighed deeply, the chill ocean wind carrying away his breath and trying to blow his black cowboy hat off his head. Noticing this, he grabbed the tip of his hat with one hand and reached for the door handle with his nearly frosted fingertips. As he opened the door, the warm light of the living room seeped through the crack. The familiar scent of his aunt Mirabelle's cream soup cooking wafting towards him as he stepped inside.

Vaughn's cousin Julia was sitting on the couch staring at her phone, her luscious blonde hair let loose and feet comfortably up on the coffee table. She looked over at Vaughn and smiled. "Hey Vaughn," she greeted. Not expecting a reply, she quickly looked back down at her phone. Vaughn took off his boots and walked towards the stairs, passing by the kitchen when he smelled the carrots that Mirabelle was cooking. Vaughn hated carrots, and much to his protest, Mirabelle continued to cook with them as she thought Vaughn was being unreasonable. Vaughn wasn't much of a fan of vegetables, but he especially didn't like carrots. The texture, the taste, the whole experience made Vaughn cringe on the inside. He shook off the feeling and quickly went up the stairs to his room.

He entered his room and was greeted by the familiar darkness. The strip of light from the hallway illuminating the room slowly disappearing as he closed the door behind him making the room appear monochrome in the darkness. He took off his hat, white scarf, brown work vest and black button-up and hung them up on wall hooks beside the door, leaving him in his black jeans and white crew neck. He sat on the side of his bed and breathed deeply. It was Monday, so he didn't have work tomorrow. Although he loves working with animals, the administrative part of his job always leaves him feeling drained, and today he had a particularly heavy workload. He held his head in his hand and sighed, then slowly worked his fingers through his silver hair. Massaging the back of his neck, he leaned back and lied back towards the bed, his head hanging off the other side of it.

Looking up at the ceiling now, Vaughn laid there in silence. He appreciated the calmness after a busy day and relaxed for a bit; the muffled sounds of the exhaust fan downstairs and the clanking of Mirabelle's cooking utensils becoming background white noise. Vaughn yawned silently and stretched his body, feeling the tension leaving him. He stood up and took off his black fingerless gloves as his hands had finally warmed up enough and placed them on his small bedside table. He turned on the small lamp beside him bringing the neutral and beige colours of the furniture and the white of the walls out from the darkness. He looked over at his closet and saw his slightly darker pale complexion and deep amethyst eyes looking back at him in the mirror on the door. He went over and opened it and took a black pullover hoodie hanging from a rack out of the closet. After returning the hanger to the rack and closing the closet he pulled the sweater over his head, the hood naturally ending up already on. He returned to the bedside table, turned the light back off, and exited the room.

Mirabelle heard him coming down the stairs and turned around from the stove to see Vaughn heading towards the door. She called out, "You're home? Where are ya going, Vaughn?" He turned around to see Mirabelle with her blue apron over her red blouse looking back at him concerned. "A walk," he coldly replied as he turned back towards the door. "Dinner is gon' be done in 45 minutes. Be back by then," she told him. He bent down and started putting on his Timberland boots. "It's fine," he grunted as he got up and opened the front door. "Don't wait up for me if I'm late," he finished as he closed the door behind him. Mirabelle let out a sigh and looked at Julia who was looking back at her. Mirabelle frowned slightly and turned back to the stove to continue cooking.

Back outside, Vaughn embraced the cold and stuffed his hands into the sweater's front pockets. He headed out to the back where the barn was. After opening the wooden gate of the fence he approached the large barn door. He opened it a crack allowing him to slip in. Vaughn was instantly greeted by Yui, a brown baby cow with a cute patch of white on her forehead, who was calmly waiting for him by the door. Vaughn swiftly turned on the barn light and got down on a knee to get to eye level and pet her. He greeted her warmly, "Hey young lady, how have you been?" He let out a small chuckle and let his stoic expression turn into a small soft smile. "I worked pretty hard today, feelin' kinda tired," he started. He stood up. "You know I'm always happy to see you all at the end of the day though," he continued as Yui followed him walking around the barn.

Yui has always been attached to Vaughn, even before he delivered her to Sunshine Island. Vaughn had loved taking care of the animals before delivering them, but Yui's natural curiosity for the cowboy stuck with him. He decided to purchase Yui for Mirabelle's barn. If he had the money and energy he would love to take care of all of them himself, but he was content knowing that most of the animals would end up in good places. He tried not to think about the shadier buyers from his company though. Instead, he dedicated himself to his job so that maybe in the future he could do something more with his life. He was at least grateful that his job involved working with animals.

Vaughn continued on about his day to Yui as he sat on a bale of hay by the horses, "My life feels so dull sometimes, Yui. The same thing every day. Work, eat, and sleep." Vaughn stopped brushing the horses and let out a little sigh, "But I know that as long as I pull through and keep working hard maybe I could live a simpler life and-" Vaughn was interrupted by the creak of the barn door and a male voice called out from a distance behind him, "Uh, hello?" Surprised, Vaughn tensed a bit but calmly turned his head towards the voice, "Sorry for just walking in but I noticed the barn door was open." He saw a slightly tan guy poking his head in through the door frame, his blond hair poking through the hole of his backwards blue baseball cap. He walked in and headed towards Vaughn, extending a hand towards him.

"I haven't met you yet. I'm the new farmer, Mark," he introduced cheerfully. Vaughn noticed his farmer getup: the black rainboots, the blue denim overalls, the red scarf, and the brown leather jacket with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He grabbed the farmer's gloved hand and gave him a firm handshake, looking up at his green eyes. "Name's Vaughn," he returned indifferently. Mark paused, waiting for him to say more, but got nothing else from the cowboy who was giving him a subtle glare. "Right, so uh-I saw the door open and thought someone had accidentally left it open. Didn't want the animals to be too cold, y'know?" Mark chuckled awkwardly, lightly scratching his cheek. "Yeah, thanks," Vaughn replied as he turned back towards the horses to continue caring for them. He must have been too tired and distracted by Yui and forgot to close the barn door behind him. "I guess I'll see you around then," Mark said to Vaughn's back and headed back towards the door. He paused at the door and looked back at the cowboy and baby cow beside him. "Nice meeting you man." Without turning around, Vaughn waved a hand in a loose salute motion as a goodbye gesture. Shortly after he heard the door close and the sound of footsteps in the snow fade.

He looked down at Yui beside him. Vaughn could sense an air of disapproval in her eyes. "Yeah, I know. I sounded cold and antisocial," he admitted. He sighed and pet Yui again, "I wish I did that better, but It's just how I am." Yui turned away and started walking towards the other cows leaving Vaughn alone on the hay bale. He put the brush he was holding on the ground and held his head in his hands. In the peaceful silence of the barn on a cold winter night, he thought to himself for a while undisturbed; thinking about his life up to this point and the farmer who had just walked in.


End file.
